A Closer Look On Fleck Water Softeners
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Through the years, the name ‘Fleck’ has been a steady competitor in the water softening business. A favored brand by many, they always seem to deliver the best water softeners to solve all our hard water issues that they always get high remarks and great reviews.
But what makes Fleck brand so relevant? And why do they always come out on top amongst all the other softening devices out there? Stick around as we are going to know more about this topic as we take a closer look on Fleck water softeners.
Table of Contents:How It All Started…Fleck 5600SXTFleck Water Softener 7000SXT ModelFleck 9100SXTWhich Is The Most Popular Fleck Water Softener Among The 3?What Possible Issues Can You Expect From Using Fleck Water Softeners?Final Word
How It All Started…
Before we proceed to the review of the best Fleck water softeners, let’s get to know a bit about how the brand came about…
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Fleck is a line of water softeners established by Pentair which is a well-known water purification company. These devices are considered as one of the pioneers in using the Powerhead meter (On-Demand) to control the regeneration process in producing soft water. During its early years, Fleck was labeled as “demand water softeners” by its users due to the product’s capability of regulating the volume of treated water needed. It was only until recently that these devices changed their brand name.
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TRIVIA: The ‘Fleck’ brand was named after Andy Fleckenstein after introducing the 5600 valve in the 1980’s. His invention was so advanced that the design hasn’t changed much even to this day. Also, it’s far more reliable than the usual rotary control valve.
Nowadays, Fleck continues to provide the same standard of producing the best softener systems for home or office use. And since the products always live up to their promises, they consistently receive high reviews from their satisfied customers. That’s why their one of the best.
Now let’s proceed to the review of the top 3 Fleck water softeners in the market today…
Fleck 5600SXT
This water softener system is ideal for homes with high level of hard water concentration. The 5600SXT has a 12 GPM flow rate with 48,000 grains capacity. And since it can provide enough soft water for 5-6 persons, this device is the most suitable softener system to be installed in average sized homes in the United States.
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Here’s what you get when you choose the Fleck 5600SXT:
- Electronic Powerhead 5600SXT On-Demand control valve with LCD display
- Ion exchange process of softening water
- Meter-based regeneration
- 15x17x33 brine tank
- Safety float
- Overflow drain
- 5 years warranty for On-Demand control valve, 10 years warranty for the tank
- Very affordable price!
Fleck Water Softener 7000SXT Model
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Basically, this device is an upgrade of the 5600SXT as it produces the same quality of soft water for hard water supplied areas. But what makes it “superior” compared its predecessor is that you can now have enough soft water for up to 7-10 persons because it runs on a 35 GPM flow rate with 64,000 grain capacity. Moreover, the control valve being used on the 7000SXT is more recent version compared to the valve on the 5600SXT. As for the price, you have to expect that they up the notch a little bit (but still reasonable) because of the mentioned upgrades.
Here’s what you get when you choose the Fleck Water Softener 7000SXT Model:
Credit: amazon.com
- Electronic Powerhead 7000SXT On-Demand control valve with LCD display (latest version)
- Ion exchange process of softening water
- Meter-based regeneration
- 15x17x36 brine tank
- Safety float
- Overflow drain
- 5 years warranty for On-Demand control valve, 10 years warranty for the tank
- Reasonably priced
Fleck 9100SXT
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Lastly, we have the 9100SXT model which is the most sophisticated device among the 3 Fleck water softeners. This model is specifically designed to treat homes (or industrial areas) with VERY high level of hard water concentration. Unlike the 2 previous models, the 9100SXT has a twin tank system to produce soft water alternately. And because of this, the regeneration downtime is prevented therefore resulting to a continuous supply of soft water.
Here’s what you get when you choose the Fleck Water Softener 9100SXT Model:
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- Electronic Powerhead 9100SXT On-Demand control valve with LCD display (latest version)
- Ion exchange process of softening water
- Meter-based regeneration
- Two 13×54 mineral tanks
- 18×40 brine tank
- Safety float
- Overflow drain
- 5 years warranty for On-Demand control valve, 10 years warranty for the tank
- Quite expensive
Apart from all the things we have mentioned above, the other features of these devices include:
All Fleck water softeners come with an Easy Installation feature so you can fix the product on your own and avoid the unnecessary expenses for expert help.
Here’s a quick video on how to install a Fleck 5600SXT Water Softener:
These devices are virtually maintenance-free. But just in case you will experience any issues, you can always contact their customer service support 24/7.
All Fleck products are certified by the Water Quality Association (WQA).
Which Is The Most Popular Fleck Water Softener Among The 3?
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According to research, the most used Fleck softener system in the United States is the 5600SXT because of its affordability. Actually, the price came as a factor since most of its users are averaged-income individuals from average sized homes. However, when you talk of populated areas like condos and apartment buildings, then 9100SXT is the preferred choice to accommodate the tenant’s water softening needs.
What Possible Issues Can You Expect From Using Fleck Water Softeners?
According to some reports, there are actually cases of people experiencing issues while using Fleck softeners. But these happened only on rare occasions. So to keep you informed on what to expect, here are the possible issues of using a Fleck water softener:
High water level in tank – Some owners are bothered of seeing high level of water inside the tank. And while this is not something to be concerned about since the tank does require large volume of water during regeneration, it will also help to check for cracks in the tubing as well as clogs in the drain pipe as these are the also some of the main reasons why the water has risen beyond the recommended level.
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Incorrect schedule of regeneration – This usually happens after experiencing power outage. To fix this, simply reset the control and configure the schedule of regeneration so that it will produce soft water at the right time.
Salt bridge – This is issue is common to most salt-based water softeners and not on Fleck water softeners alone. And the best way to deal with this is to break up the bridge with a use of a stick, remove all the contents inside the tank, and the clean it up properly so that it won’t happen again.
Please watch this video to know more about the process of removing salt clog (salt bridge) from your softening device:
Final Word
Overall, the brand’s reputation speaks for itself as they often get positive reviews every year. Fleck devices have always set the bar in delivering high quality soft water. That’s why having any of the Fleck water softeners we have mentioned here will be a worthwhile investment.